Australian Football

After playing in a couple of premierships with Horsham in the Wimmera Football League Adrian Hickmott joined Geelong in 1991 and went on to win that season's under nineteen best and fairest award. After spending most of the 1992 season in the twos he was elevated to the seniors for a round twenty-four clash with Essendon at Waverley, which the Cats won comfortably. Hickmott had played well and he retained his place for the club's first two finals matches before being dropped for the third. After struggling for a regular game in 1993 he consolidated in '94 with his 20 senior appearances for the year including the losing grand final clash with West Coast. The 1995 season ended in identical fashion as the Cats again lost the grand final, albeit that this time it was Carlton who inflicted the coup de grace.

Despite playing in a team that was badly beaten Hickmott produced a fine effort in the 1995 grand final - a fact that was not lost on the opposition's coaching panel. Thus it was that following a complex deal which saw Carlton's Troy Bond crossing to Adelaide and Geelong receiving some extra draft picks Adrian Hickmott ended up at Princes Park in 1996. The Geelong phase of his career had seen him play 50 AFL games and kick 24 goals with most of his appearances coming on a half forward flank, where he was a provider first and goal kicker very much second.

At Carlton Hickmott would initially play most of his football in defence, although he was later used to good effect across half forward and in the centre. A tenacious, dogged and highly courageous player, he had the rare ability of being able to match it with opponents of almost any size. Strong overhead, he sometimes hurried his kicks but was nevertheless always a threat when near goal. After being voted the Blues' best first year player Hickmott went on to give the club sterling service in 134 games in eight seasons during which he bagged 107 goals. Actually, to be strictly accurate it was only seven complete seasons as he did not play at all in 1998 whilst recovering from a serious knee injury. Among the games in which he appeared was the 1999 grand final encounter with the Kangaroos, but it was very far from being a case of third time lucky as the Blues slumped to a heavy defeat.

Since retiring as a player Adrian Hickmott has undertaken a number of coaching roles both in country Victoria and Western Australia.

Author - John Devaney